


Study Buddies

by Heartithateyou



Series: Coming Together [1]
Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Bisexual Steve Harrington, Coming Out, Confessions, Cute, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gay, Gay Billy Hargrove, Gay Male Character, Getting Together, Internalized Homophobia, M/M, One Off, One Shot, Random & Short, Randomness, Short, Short & Sweet, Short One Shot, Sweet, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Tutoring
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-04
Updated: 2018-02-04
Packaged: 2019-03-13 19:54:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,566
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13577835
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Heartithateyou/pseuds/Heartithateyou
Summary: Steve needs help with his English paper, so he agrees to meet with a student tutor.So why the hell is Billy there?





	Study Buddies

“You have got to be fucking kidding me.” He hears a voice say from above him.

He looks up from his notes and finds none other than Billy Hargrove standing above him, an exasperated look on his face.

“What’re you doing here?” He stutters out, trying to regain his composure. Ever since Billy had beat the ever-loving shit out of him, they’d more or less stayed out of each other’s way. Billy had given him one of the most awkward, fumbling apologies he’d ever witnessed (he hadn’t even realized that’s what he was trying to do for the first five minutes) but that still didn’t mean they were anywhere close to friends. Whenever they ran into each other picking up Dustin or Max, they exchanged pleasantries and got the hell out of there as fast as possible.

“Well, nice to see you too.” Hargrove says with a shit eating grin as he grabs the seat next to him at the table.

“Sorry, I guess I’m just a little stunned that you even know where the library is.” He says, looking around the library to make sure they weren’t attracting any attention. 

“Hilarious Harrington.” He says with a snort as he grabs some books out of his bag and places them on the table.

“But really Hargrove, what are you doing?” He asks, wondering why Billy felt the need to make himself at home. They were acquaintances at best, not study buddies.

“Get your panties out of a bunch, Steve. Remember when you signed up to be tutored in English? Hi.” He says, holding up his copy of Catcher in the Rye.

“You’re my student tutor?” He asks incredulously. He had to wonder if Billy was taking the piss out of him. Billy was a lot of thing: a jackass, a decent basketball player, the owner of way too many low cut shirts.

But he never really guessed he was the literate type.

“I swear, you should see your face right now. You probably thought I didn’t even know how to read.” He says with a chuckle.

“I wouldn’t go that far…” He mutters, wondering how Billy was somehow able to read his mind.

“Listen, I’m more than a pretty face. And except for your ex, I have the highest GPA in this school, even though in Hawkins that really isn’t saying much. So do you want to pass English or not.” Billy asks with a quirked eyebrow.

“Fine. It’s not like I really have options.” He says with a sigh. 

“Don’t sound so excited there sweetheart. Now, did you bring the essay that’s due next week?” Billy asks with a smirk.

He feels himself blush slightly at the pet name, which is completely ridiculous. He knows Billy is just trying to fuck with him and get a rise out of him.

But ever since he and Nancy had split, he’d maybe thought about Billy more than he should have.

He knew that being attracted to the dude who once kicked the shit out of you was all kinds of fucked up, but he couldn’t help himself. Maybe it was his stupid hair or the way his shirt never seemed buttoned or the way his jeans were always way too tight.

So maybe he let Billy’s words hit a little too close to home.

“Here.” He mumbles as he shoves the essay at Billy, trying not to look him in the eye. When Billy reaches for the essay, their hands touch and Steve tries not to think about the bolt of electricity he swears he feels.

“Don’t be so shy Stevie, I’m sure it’s not as bad as you think it is.” Billy tuts, noting Steve’s flushed face and diverted eyes.

“It’s not great. And don’t call me Stevie.” He mutters, grabbing his binder and pretending to study his notes.

“We’ll see about that.” Billy says before falling silent, his eyes beginning to run over the pages.

Steve hates this. It was bad enough when Nancy read over his homework and he had to feel like a complete and utter moron. But feeling that way in front of Billy, who probably already thought he was some kind of idiot was painful and embarrassing. He hated how much he struggled with this, and now Billy was going to know.

This was his hell.

“Hmm. Hmm. Hmmmmmmm.” Billy says as he skims the paper.

“Okay, cut the shit. It’s terrible, I know. Just tell me how to make it a c.” He mumbles out. Ugh, this was even more painful than he thought it would be.

“Honestly?” Billy asks, his expression unreadable.

“Just get it over with.” He mutters.

“It’s not bad.” Billy says, leaning back in his chair.

“It’s… what?” He utters, wondering if Billy is fucking with him again.

“Honestly. You have some solid ideas here, you really just need help organizing it.” Billy says, looking at him with an open expression. 

“You’re not… you’re not fucking with me right?” He whispers, hating that he has to ask. 

But he can’t help it. He had heard most of his life it was a good thing he was pretty and athletic, because academics weren’t his strong suit.

So it was weird hearing from someone that he wasn’t as dumb as he thought he was.

“I’m not. You need to give yourself more credit. And give me some credit that I may not be a douche bag all the time.” Billy says with a tight smile before turning his attention back to the essay.

“Thanks, I think. And can you really blame me? You did beat the crap out of me.” He says, cringing as he brings up the memory.

“I said I was sorry.” Billy mutters as he underlines something.

“I know. It’s just…” He says, unsure if he wants to bring this up again.

“I know. I am though. Sorry.” Billy says, looking back at him. Steve can’t take his eyes off of his. He’s never seen Billy look so open and raw. It was unnerving and strange and… hot.

“Thank you.” He whispers back.

“And I’m not trying to make it better or make excuses, but I was kind of messed up that night. Things were fucked up and I wasn’t in a good place.” Billy mutters, his expression growing strained. 

He doesn’t know what to say, he can’t seem to find the words. All he can do is reach out his hand and put it on top of Billy’s, giving it a gentle squeeze.

“Billy-“ He starts, not sure where to start with what he wants to say.

“It’s fine, let’s not turn this into some soap session. Let’s just get back to this paper.” He says, shrugging Steve’s hand off. His face immediately goes blank again and Steve can see him hide inside himself again.

“You can talk to me. About whatever’s going on.” Steve says softly. He knows he shouldn’t pry, shouldn’t push their already tedious relationship.

But it’s like he’s seen another side to Billy, something raw and real, and he can’t help but want to see more of it.

Billy lets out a harsh laugh, cold and cruel sounding, “That’s cute Harrington.”

“What?” He asks, feeling a little rejected.

“You really think you could handle what’s going on with me?” He asks as he crosses his arms and leans back, fixing Steve with a cold stare.

“Yeah, I think I could. Maybe if you would actually give someone a chance, you would see that.” He says, crossing his arms as well. He felt Billy pushing him and he just wanted to push him right back.

“Fine pretty boy, here it is. That night my daddy felt the need to beat the shit out of his fag of a son. And I guess I felt so shitty and homophobic about it that I beat the shit out of the one guy in this hell hole of a town that I wanna bang. How’s that for opening up Harrington?” Billy spits out, standing up so quickly his chair falls back behind him.

As Billy grabs his books and throws them in his back, he reaches out and grabs his arm, trying to stop him before he runs out.

“You want to bang me?” He asks in a whisper. This gets Billy to pause, his arm still half in his bag.

“That… That’s what you’re going to focus on?” Billy asks, his brow furrowed.

“I- I’m sorry, your dad is a complete and total dick, and do you need somewhere to stay? You could totally crash at my place or we could find you somewhere else, and there’s nothing wrong with being gay and I want to sleep with you too.” He rambles, his brain going full speed ahead while the filter in his mouth is apparently broken.

“Harrington, you need some help organizing your thoughts.” Billy laughs before he bends down and kisses him on the lips, soft and gentle and nothing he would expect from Billy Hargrove.

He suddenly hears someone clearing their throat behind them and both of them turn to find the librarian standing there with a disapproving look on her face.

“Boys, this is a library.” She says with a pointed look.

“And we were just getting out of here. My car’s in the parking lot.” Billy says with a devilish grin.

Who knew tutoring could be this fun?

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!
> 
> Feel free to leave comments!!


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